At least 9 dead in drone strikes after U.S. and Ukraine sign minerals deal

Ukrainian servicemen of the 126th brigade air-defence unit look for Russian drones during air alert in Kherson region, Ukraine, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Marko Ivkov)

KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian drone attack left at least seven people dead and a Russian strike on Odesa killed two people on Thursday, officials said, just hours after Kyiv and Washington signed a long-anticipated agreement granting U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral resources.

The attack in the partially occupied Kherson region of southern Ukraine, which struck a market in the town of Oleshky, killed seven and wounded more than 20 people, Moscow-appointed Gov. Vladimir Saldo said.

“At the time of the attack, there were many people in the market,” Saldo wrote on Telegram. After the first wave of strikes, he said, Ukraine sent further drones to “finish off” any survivors.

Meanwhile, a Russian drone strike on the Black Sea port city of Odesa early Thursday killed two people and injured 15 others, Ukrainian emergency services said.

Regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said the barrage struck apartment buildings, private homes, a supermarket and a school.

Videos shared by Kiper on Telegram showed a high-rise building with a severely damaged facade, a shattered storefront and firefighters battling flames.

A drone struck and ignited a fire at a petrol station in the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov.

Following the attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia had ignored a U.S. proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire for more than 50 days now.

“There were also our proposals -- at the very least, to refrain from striking civilian infrastructure and to establish lasting silence in the sky, at sea, and on land,” he said. “Russia has responded to all this with new shelling and new assaults.”

Agreement on mineral wealth

The U.S. and Ukraine on Wednesday signed an agreement granting American access to Ukraine’s vast mineral resources, finalizing a deal months in the making that could enable continued military aid to Kyiv amid concerns that President Donald Trump might scale back support in ongoing peace negotiations with Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy originally proposed such a deal last year as a way of helping to secure Ukraine’s future by tying it to U.S. interests. Ukrainian officials said previous versions of the accord would have reduced Kyiv to a junior partner and gave Washington unprecedented rights to the country’s resources, but that the version signed Wednesday was far more beneficial to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said Thursday that the signing of the minerals deal was the “first result” of the meeting he had with Trump at the Vatican during the Pope’s funeral, and called the agreement “truly historic.”

During his nightly address, he said that, per the signed agreement, there were no debts to be paid from past U.S. aid to Kyiv. He said the agreement will be sent to the parliament to be ratified and that Ukraine was “interested in ensuring that there are no delays with the agreement.”

According to Zelenskyy, the agreement is “truly equal” and “creates an opportunity for investments in Ukraine.”

“This is working together with America and on fair terms, when both the Ukrainian state and the United States, which help us in defence, can earn in partnership,” he added.

Tymofiy Mylovanov, former economy minister and current president of the Kyiv School of Economics, said Thursday that despite what he described as “unimaginable pressure” during negotiations on the deal, Ukraine succeeded in defending its interests.

“This is a huge political and diplomatic win for Ukraine,” Mylovanov wrote on Facebook. “The deal looks fair.”

Mylovanov said the deal does not restrict Kyiv to selling only to American buyers. Instead, he said, the deal recognizes contributions from both sides: Ukraine’s in the form of revenues from new projects, and the U.S. potentially through military assistance.

Kyiv residents voiced mixed reactions Thursday morning to the newly signed U.S.-Ukraine agreement, with many saying they had not yet had time to fully understand the deal’s implications.

Among those who spoke to The Associated Press about the deal was Diana Abramova, who attended a rally in Independence Square demanding information on missing Ukrainian soldiers. Her father, Valentyn Stroyvans, went missing in combat last year.

“Any news is hard to take -- whether it’s about negotiations or anything else,” Abramova said. “But I still believe and hope that any action will bring us closer to one thing: Ukraine’s victory. Only victory.”

Seventy-four-year-old university lecturer Natalia Vysotska said she wasn’t familiar with the details of the agreement but remained cautiously optimistic.

“I don’t know what the terms are -- they may not be favorable for Ukraine at all. Still, if it was signed, our experts must have weighed the pros and cons. I hope it will be beneficial.”

Others shared a more skeptical view. Iryna Vasylevska, a 37-year-old Kyiv resident, expressed frustration and disillusionment with the broader implications of the deal.

She told the AP she feels terrible that “our land is just a bargaining chip for the rest of the world and that we do not have our own full protection, but rely on someone.”

“My vision is that instead of strengthening ourselves, we continue to give it all away. I feel sorry for our land and for our people,” she said.

Russian reaction to the minerals deal

Reaction to the signing was generally muted in Moscow on Wednesday, a holiday in Russia. But the deputy chair of Russia’s National Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said that Trump had forced Ukraine to effectively “pay” for American military aid with its mineral resources.

“Now military supplies will have to be paid for with the national wealth of a disappearing country,” he claimed in a post on Telegram.

Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the Russian Civic Chamber’s commission on sovereignty, told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that Zelenskyy had effectively handed Ukraine over to “legally prescribed slavery.”

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A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Russia’s Defense Ministry reported shooting down eight Ukrainian drones overnight on Sunday. The statement was made on Thursday.

Morton reported from London.